Thousands Speak Out Against CISPA for Week of Action

Last Monday, a number of organizations, companies, and individuals came together for a Week of Action against the dangerous cybersecurity bill, CISPA. Though thousands of people answered our call to action, the fight is far from over.

CISPA—which will be marked up and voted upon in the House in mid-April—bypasses existing privacy laws by giving overly broad legal immunity to companies who share users' private information, including the content of communications, with the government. It allows companies to disclose users' data directly to the NSA, a military agency that operates secretly and without public accountability, as well as to a large number of government agencies. Broad definitions that allow users' sensitive personal information to be used for a range of purposes, including for "national security," not just computer and network security.

Over 15,000 people in the past week contacted their members of Congress using EFF's action center, urging them to oppose the broadly worded bill. To date, Congress has received messages from a total of over 37,000 individuals.

In addition, 7,000 concerned individuals from around the world have signed onto EFF’s petition urging President Barack Obama to renew his promise to veto CISPA. And many more spoke out on Twitter using our Twitter tool and the hashtag #CISPAalert. Along with campaigns from Fight for the Future, Access, ACLU, Demand Progress, and the22 Daily Kos, over 150,000 people took action in the past week alone.

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